A three-month-long effort to set new teacher-preparation reporting and accountability rules effectively reached its conclusion last week after the U.S. Department of Education declined to renew a negotiated-rulemaking process that had already been extended.
Negotiators tapped by the field appeared far apart on major issues鈥攊ncluding the place of student-achievement outcomes in judging the quality of teacher-preparation programs鈥攄uring a conference call held April 12.
The Education Department had proposed requiring states to classify their teacher-preparation programs into four categories, using a mix of measures, including student-achievement information. Programs in the top two categories would have qualified for offering federal teach grants for teacher candidates who commit to teaching in low-income schools.
Several negotiators said they didn鈥檛 believe that such measures as 鈥渧alue added鈥� calculations were ready to be used to judge program quality.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not enough research at this point in time to suggest that this has enough validity and reliability across the country, or state by state, and yet we鈥檙e trying to put it into ... regulations that will now deny students financial aid based on something that is yet to be proven as valid,鈥� said Joseph Pettibon, an associate vice president for academic services at Texas a&m University.
A variety of alternatives, including pilot programs and temporary waivers, were discussed, but differences of opinion appeared to run too deep.
鈥淪imply based on the discussion today, I don鈥檛 think a few hours [of additional negotiations] would do it, and I don鈥檛 think a few weeks would do it,鈥� said David M. Steiner, the dean of the education school at Hunter College in New York City. 鈥淟ong-standing divisions have re-emerged, and I don鈥檛 see a [likely] consensus on anything close to what the department has in mind.鈥�
The Education Department will craft the rules on its own, though they must still go out for public comment before being approved.
